Motorcyle and Biker Ride Reports and General Info

On behalf of myself, my family, and the Biker Law Blog, I would like to thank you all for a great year. Furthermore, I am wishing you all a Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

This is the time of year that we all get together with friends and family to Celebrate the Holiday season.

Please do yourself and everyone else on the road a favor, do not drink and drive. If you must drink, simply do not drive. If you have to get somewhere after drinking, use a designated driver. Not the one who is least shit faced, but someone who has not used drugs or alcohol. If this is not possible, call a cab, or simply stay where you are until you sober up. I want you all around to read the Biker Law Blog for the year 2008.

As you drive your cars, motorcycles, trucks, SUV’s, or whatever, remember the less fortunate of those amongst us, especially the homeless and poor, and your middle class friends who may be losing their homes due to the foreclosure nightmare. Say a prayer for the less fortunate, and even better, say a prayer and maybe help someone out!

Happy Holidays,

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

** 6/14/08 Update: 7 plus months; No Smokie! If I can do it- anyone can do it! The secret is to chew lots of gum, take deep breaths when a craving comes on, and do not smoke no matter what!

On a cool evening in March, 1981, I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas for Air Force Basic Training. At 17 years old, I was still basically a kid. I will never forget the nightmare that this night was.

I remember standing in formation with the other recruits after being screamed at by god knows how many an Air Force T.I.’s after getting off of the bus. The full realization and nightmare of what was to come had not yet hit me.

It was at this time that one of the Air Force T.I.’s stated, “Men you have 5 minutes to smoke your last cigarette for the next 3 days.” He then stated for those of you who want to smoke, fall out. The rest of you, stay in formation.”

Everyone and I mean everyone fell out of that formation to have a cigarette. Before this night, I had experimented with cigarettes before, but I was not a smoker. After this night, I became a full time smoker for the next 27 years.

Yes, cigarettes have been a very important part of every aspect of my life for the past 27 years. Well, no more god willing.

I officially quit smoking on December 11, 2007 at approximately 9:00pm. For the first time since that night in 1981, I have actually made a volitional decision to quit smoking. Right now I am on my 7th day without a cigarette, and have quit Cold Turkey!

This will mark the 2nd longest time I have ever gone without a cigarette since I started smoking back in 1981. The only other time since 1981 where I have quit smoking longer, was during a horrible respiratory illness that occurred about 3 or 4 years ago when I was so sick, I could not smoke. As soon as I got better after about 3 weeks, I started smoking again. It should be noted that during this time, I used nicotine gum to get through the period of non smoking. Now I am using nothing but will power.

This time I quit smoking because I finally told myself it is time to quit, and that I am not going to pick up another cigarette again in my life.

I will be brutally frank, if cigarettes were not so dammed bad for me, I would continue smoking. However, after being told countless times by doctors that I needed to stop smoking, and after coming to that realization in my head that it was finally time to stop, I stopped.

Now I am under no illusions that quitting smoking is going to be easy. The odds are against me. Most people that try to quit smoking fail. The reason that they fail is that nicotine is one of the most addicting substances known to mankind. Secondly, you flat out get used to lighting a cigarette up and inhaling it. That part of smoking is also an addiction.

The last 7 days have in two words been utter hell. I am not going to mince words. It seems like every time I turn around, I think, OK, I need a smoke! Smokers call this jonsing for a cigarette. Hell simple things like coming to the computer monitor or starting up my motorcycle make me want to light up a cigarette.

In order to quit smoking, I thought about using the patch, and actually had it prescribed to me by my doctor. I also thought about using nicotine gum. I actually filled the prescription for the patch, and spent another 40 bucks on nicotine gum. Both have been sitting on my living room table for well over two months without being used.

After already deciding to quit cold turkey and after not having a cigarette for 2 days, I found a site called on the Internet called WhyQuit.Com which espouses the cold turkey method of quitting, and provides many great links to resources, and a library of support video tapes for the quest. I did learn that most of the nicotine and byproduct toxins of smoking leave your body within 36 hours of quitting smoking. This was good news for me. I also learned that smoking was not only a mental, but it is a physical addiction!

I will admit I have heretofore used none of what I read on WhyQuit.Com to help me in my quest to quit smoking. I have just been struggling through it thinking in my head that it will eventually get easier. I am quite sure that I will eventually start looking at some of the videos!

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not sitting here blaming the United States Air Force, the cigarette companies, or other smokers for my becoming addicted to cigarettes. I am blaming myself. I knew full well that night in 1981 when I started smoking, that cigarettes were bad for me. I made the choice to smoke, and now I will suffer the rest of my life with that decision. I have been told by many smokers who have successfully quit that the incessant urge and/or cravings to smoke do dissipate in time, but they still come back years later, albeit not as strong. I am under no illusions that this is going to be easy by any means.

I have been told that my sense of taste, and smell will be much better, and that in time my body will start to repair itself. Hell, with some of the bikers and motorcyclist I hang out with maybe I don’t want my sense of smell to get better; just kidding.

You will notice in many of my pictures here on the Biker Law Blog that I appear in the pictures smoking cigarettes. Heck, all of my friends know that the first thing I like to do when I get off of my motorcycle is to have a cigarette. Well no more.

I would appreciate your prayers in my endeavor to quit smoking for good. For all of you smokers out there, who are thinking about quitting but are afraid to try, just do it. Hell, if I can do it, you can too. You just need to tell yourself, I am not ever smoking again, and don’t. I know it is easier said than done. I have found that if I take a few deep breaths when I have a craving to smoke, the craving seems to go away after a short while.

I will give you all a report on my quitting smoking in the future, whether it is good or bad.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

** 2/12/08 Update - I lost my Garmin C330 when I forgot to take it off of the trunk of my car - long story. I am now using a Garmin Nuvi 350. The Garmin Nuvi 350 uses a different Ram Mount holder but everything else is the same.

Well I have managed to ride my motorcycle and drive my car for many years all over the nation using old fashion maps, printing out directions on Mapquest, and/or otherwise winging it; well no more, I have entered the 21st Century; I now use a GPS unit.

I decided to buy a portable GPS system a few months ago and all I can saw is “why did I wait so long!”

First off this article is not going to discuss all of the options and things that a GPS system on your motorcycle and car will do. If you want to learn about GPS systems, I am sure a quick Google search will bring you up to speed on GPS systems and their features. The purpose of this article is to discuss what I wanted in a GPS, what I looked at, what I purchased, how I mounted it on my motorcycle, and what I think.

When I went about searching for a GPS system, I wanted a unit that I could use on my motorcycle, car, or any other motor vehicle that I wanted to ride in; a unit that was portable and not permanently installed.

I went to a bunch of motorcycle and GPS forums to see what others were saying. I also looked at professional reviews on sites such as ZDNet, and purchaser reviews from sites that allow their customers to review the units they purchased. On top of everything else a bunch of new manufacturers have recently entered the GPS market.

My initial impression at least from what I learned in my search was that the leading GPS brands were Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom. I could not find anything really good about the new manufacturers in the GPS market game. Guys from electronic stores who were in the know such as Fry’s Electronics told me point blank on the phone and in person to stick with Garmin because they were in industry leader, and they have less returns of Garmin units. I was also told that Magellan and TomTom were good, but that Garmin would be my best bet.

On the internet I found a site which discussed the mapping software that Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom GPS units use, and I found that the software used in the Garmin and Magellan units was supposed to be better for North America than the TomTom units. It is said that the TomTom software is supposed to be better for Europe. Since I do 99.99% of my riding in North America I wanted the best mapping software for North America.

The next issue I considered was whether to buy a waterproof unit to use on the motorcycle and in the car, or should I just buy a regular unit to use for both. By regular, I mean one that is not waterproof. I looked at the Garmin Zumo 550 GPS which is specifically designed for motorcycles, is waterproof, and comes with a motorcycle mount. There is even a Zumo forum for users of the product. The cheapest price I could find on the unit was around 500 bucks plus shipping from online shopping sites. When doing research on this unit on the Zumo forum, I found that many purchasers were having major problems with the unit which were causing them to have to do reboot’s of the unit, or which were causing the units to die on the road. Apparently there is some kind of bug with the unit and many guys on a particular thread were reporting that they got units with the bug. There were many other guys that said their units were ok. In my mind I am not going to pay 500 dollars for a GPS unit that has a known bug, or that would be a hit and miss. I wanted a unit that was free of bugs or problems and would work. I don’t care if the GPS unit is designed for motorcycles or not at that price. Bottom line, I am not going to dish out 500 dollars plus for something that may be buggy.

=> Read more!

The legendary biker and daredevil Evel Knievel has died at the age of 69. I remember as a kid watching him jump his Harley Davidson motorcycle, and watching him crash as well. I remember his signature Star Spangled leather jump suits, and the impression he made on me.

Yes I will admit, as a young kid, Evel Knievel was one of my hero’s. I remember thinking how crazy it was for him to try jumping the Snake River Canyon and thinking that he was going to die. Although he did not make it across the Snake River Canyon, I was glad that he did not die.

Upon hearing the news of his death I felt a slight sickness in my stomach. For better or worse, Evel Knievel was a unique American Icon. There have been many imitators, riding souped up motocross bikes that were or are set up for jumping. However, no one will come close to the image and notoriety that Evel Knievel created for himself jumping his V-Twin Harley Davidson, and breaking many bones.

This article is not intended as a news report of his death, if you want a news report, you can find all kinds of articles about his death and life on the Internet. Instead this article is my small tribute to the man. Click here to go to the official Evel Knievel website.

Just an FYI some people spell Evel's name as Evil. He did not want people to spell his name as Evil because he did not want people to think of him as Evil. The actually spelling of his name is Evel Knievel and not Evil Knievel. You can read facts about his life by clicking here now.

Below is a decent tribute video to Evel Knievel. The first few seconds of the video start off with a guy singing his song about Evel Knievel, but then many of his great jumps are shown. Check it out!

Rest in Peace Evel Knievel~~~~~~

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007